Concert Feedback for Audience Members
1st December 2018, St Nicolas Church, Newbury
The programme
Handel: Samson
Winter Season 2018
Comments
3 responses to “Winter Season 2018”
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Newbury Choral Society’s production of Handel’s ‘Samson’ was a great success. The performance was dramatic and exciting – particularly the second half. The choir’s singing was so expressive, their diction was clear and their use of dynamics was most effective. Thank you for a really enjoyable evening.
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The following is a letter I sent and was published in the Newbury Weekly News on the 18th December regarding the Samson concert review. I have added my original title not the one used.
More About the Choir Please
“Thank you Fiona Bennett for your review of the Newbury Choral Society’s offering of Handel’s oratorio ‘Samson’ on December 1. You rightly praise Cathal Garvey – the Society’s musical director – the London Ulysses Orchestra and the five soloists. But sadly you write little about the choir which was in tremendous voice and at the end received loud and prolonged applause – even spiced with some cheering!
Regarding the small amount you did write about the choir – less than 5% of the total review – you commented on the proportion of female to male voices and you voiced your desire “to hear every single consonant enunciated to perfection”. Regarding the former – the ratio was roughly 2 : 1 – you will know that this is normal for most choirs of any size. And for the latter, enunciation of the quality you seek is virtually impossible to achieve with a choir approaching 100 voices – even professional soloists are known to fail!
One last point. It is good to remember that without the Society and its choir there would be no concert. So thank you for ending your review with the words “Well done Newbury Choral Society, another feather in your cap”. But given the quality of singing achieved by this non-auditioned choir, the hours of practice to achieve it, and the acclaim given by the audience, could we please in future reviews read more about the choir?
Many thanks.
Gerald Atkinson
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To view the Newbury Weekly News concert review click here.
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